


I Think I Like You

by Littlewildcat



Category: The Boys (TV 2019)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:09:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22466206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Littlewildcat/pseuds/Littlewildcat
Summary: Madelyn tried to help Homelander’s image after rumors spread about some unsavory behaviors. What she has in mind is a fake relationship with a girl she hired for the job.
Relationships: The Homelander | John/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 19
Kudos: 136





	1. Chapter 1

“ You need this. This will improve your image.”   
Homemade glared at her. “ I’m the most famous man in America, basically America’s sweetheart.”  
“ Yes you are, but there are rumor circulating,” Madeline argued.  
“ There will always be rumors.”  
“ Not like these.”  
Homelander gave an exasperated sigh. “ How bad is it?”  
“ Bad. Your base, the evangelical community, want to see Homelander as a family type man.”  
“ I am, I play with those fucking snot nosed brats for the commercial.”  
“That’s a commercial. They want to see it in real life. They want to see you as a holy evangelical man who is settling down and is considering the idea of starting a family.”  
Homelander rolled his eyes.  
“ This is important.”  
“ You Keep saying that but I think this is not an issue.”  
“ They saw you at the club.”  
“ What?” He snapped as he turned to face Madeline.   
“The press. It was leaked to some magazine. PR is handling it right now. We are trying to say you were looking for a lead.”  
Homelander glared at her. “ Why didn’t you tell me.”  
“ I’m telling you now. And that is why I’m telling you you need this girl we are hiring. Everyone is going to think that you are a sweet, wholesome man that doesn’t go looking for women so he can play out his fantasies. You know how the media is going to play this. They are going to ruin your image and everything you’ve worked so hard for. You don’t want that do you?”  
Homelander sighed. He didn’t want to do this. He didn’t want some pathetic woman fawning over him. He can only put up with regular humans so much in a day before he loses his god damn mind.

“ No,” He finally said.

Madeline smiled, “ Good. I don’t want that to happen either. We have worked to hard and for far too long for our work to be destroyed. We are going to get through this. It will only be a few weeks and we won’t need her anymore, ok?” Homelander nodded.  
He just hated humans and he was sure this one will be no different.


	2. The Meeting

He was to meet his pretend girlfriend today. He really didn’t want to. He didn’t feel like being fawned over by some starry eyed groupie. That was the reason why he was still in his room. He looked at the bare wall and sighed. There wasn’t much too look at here. He was never one for decorating and it’s not like he had much of a past to put on display, just a blue baby blanket which he kept tucked away and out of sight. He really didn’t understand why Madelyn would make him do this. Well... he understood why but he still didn’t want to do it. So that is why he was here, sulking on his bed gently tossing a ball against the wall and catching it as it came back to him. 

“ There you are. Sara has already been waiting for 30 minutes. Come on, now.” Madelyn looked hurried and annoyed. She probably was. She didn’t like to wait and did not have much patience. It never was a strong suit for her. 

He cringed at the name, what a boring name for a girl. No doubt she was going to be a boring person. And probably annoying on top of that. 

He sighed. “ Fine. I’m coming.”

He tossed the ball on his bed and stood up to follow Madelyn, making sure to drag his feet along the way. Just because he agreed doesn’t mean he had to make this easy for her.

The girl was defiantly not what he had expected. She was there sitting in front of him reading the contract that Madelyn was currently explaining. She had her brown hair up in an elegant pony tail. And it was not just any type of boring brown. It had natural blonde highlights that mixed beautifully in with the brown and shone in the light. He dark brown eyes looked kind and innocent, not the bored look Maeve had or the calculating glimmer that showed in Madelyn. She was also about average height and had a bit of an athletic build. It also looked as if she hadn’t cut her nails in a bit but that was ok. They were beautiful anyway. The girl picked up a pen a signed on a line that Madelyn pointed to. He lost track of what they had been talking about. 

He also noticed that the blue dress she was wearing was something Madelyn had worn years ago. It looked like it got recently tailored. It had to as Madelyn wasn’t that big in the chest compressions to this girl. He were surprised that they were natural. Probably all those hormones in the milk these days. 

He didn’t know why her parents would name her Sarah. She too beautiful for that name. She should have a name like Aphrodite or Helen. 

Homelander smiled charmingly, the smile that had everyone swooning. He had wanted her to talk to him, but she had minimal acknowledgment irised of a polite hello. He thought it was because Madelyn had quickly pushed a stack of papers in front of her and a pen so that they could begin signing the contracts.

“ So, how do you like the Tower? Pretty cool right?”

Madelyn raised an eyebrow at him as if to ask what he was doing. 

The girl shrugged. “ It’s fine I guess.” She said indifferently as she went back to signing. 

Homelander tried to hide his confusion. Well that was a lackluster response. But he continued to smile. 

“ I can give you a tour later after we finish the contracts. There a real nice view from where the rest of the Seven and I hold our meetings. 

She smiled politely. “ Thanks, but maybe not today. I have to still go grocery shopping and get some stuff for dinner.”

Perfect. “ Well why don’t I treat you to dinner? As a thank you for what yuh are doing. We both greatly appreciate it and I think it’s appropriate that we reward you.”

She frowned. Definitely not a good look on her. “ You don’t have to. Ms. Stilwell is already paying me enough.”

Oh my god she’s so polite. It’s cute.

“ Madelyn how much are we paying our lovely guest here?”

Madelyn gave him an assessing look and a fake smile. 

“ $75,000 for 16 weeks.”

“ Madelyn we can definitely do better than that. 

Sara frowned. “ That’s fine. $75,000 is good enough.”

Homelander reached out to grasp her hands. She flinched but let him grasp her small dainty hands in his. That was interesting. He would have to look into that later. 

“ I know your time is probably important. So... how about I compensate you? $50 for each meal we have and of course at whatever restaurant you like. You can feel free to order whatever. I think it will be a good way for us to get to know each other. And I would really like to spend time with the girl who is so gracious enough to help the Seven. But it’s all up to you of course.”

He didn’t need to look at Madelyn to sense her confusion. 

Sarah bit her lip nervously and looked at Madelyn, uncertainly.

Madelyn gave her a smile and nodded. Of course she would. Anything to appease him even though he was probably out of his mind right now. 

She looked at him and nodded.

And he smiled.


	3. Buy your own sub

Who the hell put a Subway in the cafeteria of the Tower. It was probably the Deep. Homelander smiled charmingly at everyone as he waited with Sarah in line to order. He said she could order whatever but she decided this. He will have to show her what a real dinner looks like but for now this will do. Homelander wanted to sigh in Relief when it was their turn. Thank good was. He wanted to get away from these people.  
“ Two steak and cheese footling Subs please on the Italian herb.”  
Homelander watched as she rattled on and took note of what she liked. She wanted spinach instead of lettuce on hers with extra pickles and plenty of mayo and honey mustard. The other must be for him. She’s so sweet, going ahead and ordering a sub for him and then some cookies. He’s not a fan of double chocolate chips or regular chocolate chip   
Cookies but she will learn that with time.  
“ here I have a coupon for the buy one get one deal.” She suddenly said as she paid for the subs before he could protest. She turned to him with a raised eyebrow.   
“ Aren’t you going to order a sandwich for yourself?”

Homelander stared at her flabbergasted.   
What the fuck.


	4. Chapter 4

Homelander offered to carry her sub. It was the most he can do as he missed out on buying her the subs.   
“ So we can eat in the conference room. It’s where we hold all of our team meetings. The view their is amazing your are going to love it.”  
He opened the door for her and ushered her in. He smiled widely as he appreciated her behind. It was very nice.   
She looked in awe. Perfect. This is what he had wanted. He wanted to dazzle her, to impress her. She walked around the perimeter observing her surroundings in wonder. She then walked over to the large window and looked upon the city below. This was his domain and he would be more than happy to share it with her.   
He walked over to her.   
“ Beautiful isn’t it?” He said with a smile on his face.  
She looked at him and smiled back. “ It really is. The department I am in doesn’t have a view like this.”  
“ What department did you work? Madeline didn’t tell me.”  
She probably did say but he hadn’t been listening. He thought the brat he was going to be stuck with was going to be a pain in the ass.  
“ I work in the file room. I just scan items and I occasionally fill in as a secretary, but I am not very good at it.”  
“ Well I’m pretty sure you will get better with time.”  
She smiled at him before turning around and heading to the table.  
“ Is it alright that I sit here?” She said motioning to the seat the Maeve always occupied.  
“ Of course.”  
She nodded and sat down and Homelander followed suit  
And sat down in his usual chair.  
He watched as she hurriedly opened up her sand which and begin to eat.   
“ So do you have any hobbies? It’s important for me to know everything I can about you so no one in the press gets suspicious.”  
She nodded, not sending his deceit. Well it couldn’t actually be called deceit if he would actually help them have a good relationship now would it.  
“ Not really. I just work a lot.”  
“ I thought you work part time here?”  
“ I do, but I also work other places as well. Do you know when Ms. Stilwell is supposed to meet us again? I was under the impression she was going to go over our schedule with us.”  
Homelander wanted to groan. What was with her and actually wanting to work? So he plastered his best press smile on his face. “ Not that I know of. But why not just relax for a bit?”  
She gave him a nervous smile and nodded. She seemed anxious. Why did it matter if she worked? Did she not know that he could provide for her? She wouldn’t have to worry again. 

The doors open and Madeline strolled In. Homelander tried to hold in an exasperated sigh. What surprised him though was the excitement on Sarah’s face when she saw Madeline.

-/-

So he’s not stalking her. He’s just making sure she’s  
Getting home safe. The talk with Madeline took 20 Minutes and it was just scheduling bullshit. After she left Madeline and warned him not to follow her, but what does she know. He’s a superhero. He saves people that is what he’s supposed to do. He stayed hidden on top of the building as he watched her walk out of the H&R Block. Apparently she worked there too. She was walking out. The bag of subway pecking out of her overly large purse. He followed her at a sedate pace in the sky. She kept walking down the street, passing apartment buildings and little bodegas. She passed by several bus stops and kept walking. The buildings began to change and started to look a little run down and a little unsafe.   
Homelander frowned. She had  
To have e walked as t least 7 miles when she turned into an old apartment building.   
He looked through the building and saw her walk up the steps and into her apartment. He focused in his hearing as well.  
“ Mommy!” He watched a 5 year old boy run up to her, arms open.   
What. The. Fuck. She had a kid.  
“ Sarah,” a man her age appeared in the room with a bucket of laundry.   
What the hell. What the actual hell. She was a mom. And had a guy. What the fuck. She was supposed to be single. He took off.  
-/-  
“She has a kid.”  
Homelander stormed into Madelyns office the next morning. He wanted to face her. That what was the extra sandwich was for. It was too good to be true. She had someone else and someone else’s kid. 

Madelyn looked up owlishly and confused. “ Who?”  
“Sarah.”   
“What? She has been searched thoroughly. She’s not in a relationship.” 

“She is. And I had Ashley email her. Ashely should be coming with the paperwork shortly. She should be coming her right about...”

Sarah opened the door and looked at them confused.

“Now,” Homelander finished.

“ Close the door,” Homelander said with a false sweetness. How could he have ever thought that this girl was loyal and beautiful.

She looked nervous. Her pulse was up and Homelander could sense a change in her breathing.

“ Well Sarah was thanks for showing up here.”

“ Hi...can I help you?” She asked nervously. 

Homelanders smile widened. “ You can tell your boss here how you lied and how you are actually not so single.”

She swallowed. “ W-what are you talking about?” She became to twiddle her fingers. Huh. Maybe that was nervous tick of hers. Good she should be nervous. How far she lie to him. 

“ The man in your apartment last night. The kid calling you mommy.” Homeland seethed as he stalked toward her. She backed toward the bookcase. She was terrified. Good.

“ I don’t appreciate disloyalty.But I don’t blame you for wanting to ditch that asshole. He probably  
Doesn’t even have a job, guessing from that shit hole  
You live in. The broke fucker probably-. “

Homelander didn’t anticipate the glass paperweight hitting him in the side of the head.  
It shattered and cut up Sarah hand but left him shock.  
“ Don’t ever talk about my brother like that,” She snarled like a wild animal. She shoved by Homelander and glared at Madelyn.  
“You said my personal life would not be affected you bitch.”she threw her badge in Madelyn direction. “ I quit.” She slammed the door open and shoved pass Ashley causing her to drop her stack of papers.

Homelander looked at her in wonder. What a wildcat.   
-/-

So he might have over reacted. She lived With her brother and the kid was hers but he was probably the product of the sexual assault that happened nine months prior to his birth that was covered up the the assholes rich father and when she went to go and get an abortion she was too far along per Louisiana’s state laws and was too broke to pay for a trip out of state at the time.   
He wanted to strangle Ashley for not getting those records sooner. He watched as she nursed a pudding cup as she talked to her brother.  
“ That fucking prick.” She growled as she stabbed the pudding with her spoon. “ What a fucking asshole.”  
“Well I wish I could have done that to me douche bag of a boss.” Her brother said.  
“I wanted to shove that damn paperweight up his ass.”  
“ I would pay to see that, but he probably would slap you silly. Come off it Sarah. He could have killed you. Why did you do something so dumb? Do you actually think he is the goody two shoes that he portrays in front of the cameras ? And you attacked him on his home turf? He could have killed you.”  
“I would have gone down fighting.”  
“ He would have lasered you in half.”  
“Well then I guess I would have missed that damn parent teacher conference next week.”  
“Don’t say that.”  
“ What that fucking teacher is a bitch. She basically thinks I’m a bad mother because I don’t have time to read to my son because I work 4 different fucking jobs.”  
“ Well maybe you can now since you only have three.”  
Sarah groaned. “ I’m going to have to find another damn job. What a way to start the morning. I want to drink.”  
Her brother chuckled. “ First you don’t like alcohol and second you you need to be sober to find another job.”  
“ Maybe I can find an online job like yours and work in my pajamas all day.”  
He laughed again. “ You better get going if you want to find something. I wrote down some places that are hiring you can try them. I’ll pick up Remy from school. I don’t think he should know you lost your job. It’ll make him sad.”  
“ I know..”  
She talked to him a bit more and picked up the list of job leads and walked out the apartment. It was Homelanders time to shine.

-/-

She looked at him warily when he stood in front of her. She looked ready to bolt. She looked like a frightened animal.He showed her that award winning smile of his. She took a step back.  
“ Hey, I wanted to catch up with you real quick. Do you mind if we go get some coffee?”  
“ Sorry I don’t drink coffee.” She said softly and sweetly.  
“ Well how about a smoothie?”  
She bit her lip as she looked around nervously. “ Sorry Mr. Homelander but I have to go to a job fair I do t think I have time.”  
“ That’s fine I can fly you there and we can have a light lunch afterwards.”

He walked up to her and let out his hand.  
“ I’m afraid of heights.”  
“ Then we can walk.” He tried to usher her gently in the direction she was going and it seemed to work.

“ So where are you heading?”

“ Umm... some bookstore?”

“ They still have those? I find that hard to believe in a world where you download a book to your phone. Do they pay well?”

“ I don’t know. The pay  
Wasn’t listed.”

“ Well at Vought we could start you at $30 an hour plus benefits and room and board and the Tower.”

She looked at him warily again and said nothing. So he continued.   
“ We also offer free daycare and discounts to the best private schools in the city.”  
She stopped reading her tracks and looked at him as if he was about to murder her. Oh shit. Maybe that was not the right thing to say.   
“ Hey, hey don’t worry. I don’t mean anything by that. Just that I thought that maybe you would like to know that. I mean some parents really like to send their kids to private school. Not saying that public schools are bad or anything.” He was rambling.   
He saw people looking at them from the corner of his eye and some people even filming him.   
“ I think we should talk this out somewhere a little more private.”  
With that he picked her up bridal style and took off in the air. 

-/-

It had been nice when she was curled into him and clinging on to him as if her life depended on it. It wasn’t so nice when she was scared shitless and almost ran off the rough of the Vought Tower in order to get away from him in her panic.  
Now she was sitting in Madlyns office with him at her side as Madelyn glared at him.  
“ What are we doing here Homelander.”  
“ I want her as my assistant.”  
Sarah look at him wider eyed and confused.  
“ Homelander...”  
“ Come on Madelyn it’ll be great.”  
“ But I don’t want to work here.”  
“That’s fine. We can just give you the title so you can move in.”  
Sarah was about to argue but Homelander held up a hand. “ I really like you Sarah and we got off on the wrong foot. My behavior was not professional and I hope to show you in the future that I do not usually act like that.”he gave her his most charming smile and she cowered a bit as if to get away from him.

Madelyn gave a faux smile. “ Homelander I think you and I should discuss this in private. It takes a lot of consideration to hire an employee at Vought if they are a permanent employee versus a temp.”

Homelander smiled at her. “ Well I did the work for you and put a lot of consideration into this choice myself.”

“ But I don’t want to work here.” Sarah said softly.

Homelander frowned. “ Why not? You have a kid. You probably need insurance for him and I’m guessing he does cost a quite a bit of money to raise. And if this is about you hitting me in the head with a paperweight it’s all water under the bridge as long as you agree to work for me for at least a year.” She should be able to fall in love with him within a year and see how great her life could be at his side.

“ And if I don’t?”

“ Then I guess you can explain to the police and the media why you hit me in the head with a paperweight and see who they believe.”

“ are you blackmailing me?” Sarah growled.  
He did not like the look on her face but she gave him no option.

“ Sarah I really want to work with you and be if blackmailing Is it then I guess that is what we will have to do.”

Sarah looked like she was about t kill him and Madelyn seemed to have a similar motive as well.

“ Fine,” Sarah grounded out. “ I’ll do it.”

Homelander smiled. This was going to be great.


End file.
